For an independent P&C agency, the number of carriers you can actually place business with is easy to overlook — it doesn't show up on the P&L the way revenue or book size does. But it's among the strongest structural signals of how durable a shop really is. Public state licensing and carrier-appointment records from two of the country's largest independent markets make that plain.
Start with Texas. State licensing and carrier-appointment records from the Texas Department of Insurance show roughly 9,100 independent P&C agencies across the state, and independence remains the overwhelming norm: 99.7% of agencies are still independent, with just 0.2% owned by consolidation platforms. By metro, Dallas–Fort Worth is the largest concentration at 2,788 agencies, where the median shop holds 8 carrier appointments and 6% hold just one carrier. Houston follows at 2,519 (median 7 appointments; 7% single-carrier), then Austin at 729 (median 6; 7% single-carrier) and San Antonio at 655 (median 9; 6% single-carrier).
The Texas pattern is a lean carrier bench: the typical agency runs six to nine appointments, and roughly one in fifteen operates on a single carrier. That single-appointment minority is structurally exposed — one carrier's appetite change, rate filing, or market exit is all that stands between those shops and a production problem.
Florida tells a deeper, more fragmented story. Florida Department of Financial Services records count 9,945 independent P&C agencies — 95.3% still independent but 3.9% owned by consolidation platforms, a meaningfully larger roll-up footprint than Texas (see the Florida consolidation picture). Carrier access runs well above Texas: Miami agencies hold a median of 15 appointments (6% single-carrier), Jacksonville 15 (3% single-carrier), Orlando 14 (7%), and Tampa 12 (5%). Florida agencies hold far deeper benches than their Texas counterparts — the appointment data reflects a market where multi-carrier placement is the norm.
The current Florida dynamics sharpen the picture. As of 2026-08-13, Florida DFS/CFO records show 50,453 active resident General Lines (2-20) agents, with 2,823 new agency licenses issued in the trailing 12 months. Formation is holding roughly steady — 242 new licenses a month in the latest full quarter versus 251 a month a year earlier. Note these are gross new licenses; closures aren't captured, so this is a formation rate, not net growth. Per-agent carrier access sits at a median of 7 (25th percentile 3, 75th percentile 17, across 37,612 agents), and 1,157 new General Lines licenses were issued in just the last 90 days. Appointment counts measure carrier–agent relationships, not premium or production.
Fragmentation is concentrated on the coasts. The fastest-forming county markets over the past 12 months are Dade (627 new licenses, 1.3 agents per agency), Broward (504, 1.2), Palm Beach (278, 1.4), Orange (242, 1.4), and Hillsborough (202, 2.4). Lower agents-per-agency ratios point to a higher share of small, sub-scale shops — precisely the agencies most dependent on a handful of carrier relationships.
Where carriers are adding appointments is a forward-looking signal. Over the last 90 days, the carriers opening the most new Florida agent appointments were Frontline Insurance Reciprocal Exchange, Progressive American Insurance Company, and Progressive Express Insurance Company. That is a capacity signal: these carriers are actively widening their distribution footprint in the state, which can mean new placement options and, for the right agency, new leverage.
The operator's takeaway: treat carrier count as a balance-sheet-quality question in disguise. A shop running one to three carriers is one appetite decision away from disruption; a shop with a dozen or more can absorb a non-renewal or a rate shock. Florida's median agency already sits deep; Texas's runs leaner. Either way, carrier redundancy is built before it's needed — not after.